Police confuse truck for Dorner's, shoot at 3 in Torrance

In Torrance, a blue truck was shot up by officers early Thursday morning. BRAD GRAVERSON, THE DAILY BREEZE

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In this handout picture provided by the Los Angeles Police Department, Christopher Dorner is shown. A former Los Angeles police officer, Dorner, 33, threatened police and their families in an online posting. LAPD VIA GETTY IMAGES

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In this image provided by the Irvine Police Department, former Los Angeles police Officer Christopher Jordan Dorner is shown. A manhunt spread across Southern California on Thursday for Dorner, who has threatened to kill police. He was suspected of shooting and killing an officer in Riverside and wounding another, as well as in the slayings Sunday of an engaged couple in Irvine. ASSOCIATED PRESS/IRVINE POLICE DEPARTMENT

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This photo released by the Irvine Police Department shows what is believed to be the truck of Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Police released it in hopes someone would find the pickup. Later Thursday, the pickup was identified, burned, in San Bernardino County. AP Photo/Irvine Police Dept.

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An alert system was used to inform motorists Thursday of a manhunt under way. One officer was killed and two others wounded Thursday in Corona and Riverside by a gunman believed to be Christopher Jordan Dorner. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Heavily armed Riverside and San Bernardino sheriff's officers were blocking traffic Thursday at Arlington and Brockton Avenues in Riverside, protecting the perimeter of a shooting scene. Early Thursday morning, one officer was killed and two others wounded Thursday in Corona and Riverside. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A bullet-damaged Los Angeles police vehicle is taped off by police on Thursday in Corona. Christopher Dorner is suspected of shooting two LAPD officers who were sent to Corona to protect someone Dorner apparently threatened in a rambling online manifesto. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A bullet-damaged Los Angeles Police vehicle is taped off by police Thursday in Corona. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Heavily armed Riverside and San Bernardino sheriff's officers blocked traffic at an intersection in Riverside on Thursday at a shooting scene. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The LAPD and Torrance officers were among thousands of law enforcement authorities throughout Southern California who had braced for a possible confrontation with Dorner after two patrol officers were shot in the Inland Empire earlier in the day.

Everywhere, it seemed, there were sightings of Dorner, the man who had vowed to "bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" to LAPD officers.

Until his truck was found burning in Big Bear, all of them turned out false.

Only in Torrance, however, were people shot by officers who thought they were face to face with Dorner.

A team of Los Angeles police officers protecting the home of a high-ranking officer in the 19500 block of Redbeam Avenue believed a pickup that stopped in front of the house matched Dorner's Nissan Titan. Police opened fire, wounding two women tossing copies of the Los Angeles Times onto porches.

A neighbor said he heard as many as 20 shots.

"Tragically, we believe this was a case of mistaken identity by the officers," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said.

Beck said the newspaper carriers were driving "in the area of one of our primary protection details, one of the people that was under the most serious level of threat." And its lights were turned out, Beck said.

Officers opened fire, wounding both women inside. One victim was treated for a minor gunshot wound, while the second was hit twice, Beck said.

Torrance resident Joanne Faneuff said she and her husband, Tom, were awakened by their son, who heard the police commotion outside.

Faneuff, 80, said she looked outside and saw what seemed to be "9,000 police" on her street, which remained blocked throughout the day. Faneuff said neighbors were told not to go outside.

The delivery truck remained parked Thursday as police conducted their investigation and put out evidence markers.

"It's a mess," she said. "It's the first time I've heard bullet shots and it sounded like small canons going off."

Neighbors said the home under protection belonged to a Los Angeles police captain with a wife and children.

The Los Angeles News Group is not publishing his name for his protection, but the captain commands a division in the San Fernando Valley, and served as a direct commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

He was mobilized to active duty in 2002 to the Pacific Fleet Intelligence Directorate. When he returned to the LAPD, he served as head of the Rampart division anti-gang team, and commanded the bomb squad and hazardous materials team. He made captain in 2007.

His interaction with Dorner was unclear, but Dorner also served in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Captains also sit on Board of Rights hearings like the one that determined Dorner should be fired from the force in 2007 for making false complaints against a fellow Harbor Division officer.

Resident Mark Yamasaki said he had noticed LAPD squad cars driving around the neighborhood the day before. So when the shots woke him up early Thursday morning, he figured they had something to do with it.

As for the women who were shot, Yamasaki said he had seen them before, but did not know their names. The women were shot about 50 yards away from his house, shortly after delivering his newspaper.

The second shooting involved Torrance police officers, who were stationed nearby in the event LAPD needed them. When the officers heard the gunshots, they headed toward Redbeam.

At that point, a driver in another pickup that looked similar to Dorner's drove toward them on Flagler Lane near Beryl Street. Officers, suspecting it was Dorner, purposely collided with the truck and shot at him.

The driver wasn't hurt, avoiding bullets that had ripped through his windshield.

"I heard some man yell at somebody and I saw this argument on the street," said Ana Filova, a woman living in her car near Dominguez Park.

Filova said she heard someone yell "cuffs" and then heard two shots, followed by a pause and a third shot.

"I said, 'Mama Mia, that's gunshots,'" she said. "I was scared. I was shaking from fear."

Torrance police Sgt. Chris Roosen said the officers were unhurt. He thanked the driver for cooperating in the investigation.

Officers did not identify the driver. Records showed the 2006 Honda pickup truck was registered to Lizzette Perdue of Redondo Beach. Purdue declined to talk to a reporter about who was driving her truck.

Throughout Southern California, law enforcement agencies took precautions for a potential showdown with Dorner, issuing a rare Blue Alert as the manhunt moved into the Big Bear area.

Inspired by the Amber Alert notification system that alerts the public to abducted children, the Blue Alert system was enacted in January 2011 to notify the public of individuals on the lam who are suspected of killing or seriously injuring peace officers, said Officer Mario Lopez of the CHP's Inland Division in San Bernardino.

The system alerts the public to the suspect's physical description, as well as a description of the vehicle being driving and its license plate number.

Elsewhere, the LAPD took all its motorcycles off the street and told officers to ride in cars instead, Officer Bruce Borihanh said.

"We're protecting our own deputies, and we're doing whatever needs to be done to ensure the safety of our deputies as well as the public," Whitmore said.

Long Beach police, cited in Dorner's manifesto, said they were on heightened alert.

In the Inland Empire, many law enforcement officers kept their hands constantly on their rifles. Some departments paired officers in squad cars for their safety.

"All of our patrol personnel are going on two-man units and we are also looking at adding onto every shift we have by calling in additional personnel so that there's more two-man units in the field," Fontana police Sgt. Robert Morris said.

Fontana police also kept all uniformed civilian personnel out of the field. They included community service and animal control officers as well as police volunteers.

Perhaps the most prominent false sighting of Dorner occurred in San Diego, where Naval Base Point Loma was locked down after a Navy worker reported seeing someone who resembled Dorner.

And in Long Beach, police shut down the 405 at Bellflower Boulevard at about 8 a.m. Thursday after receiving a report of a vehicle that matched the description of Dorner's Nissan Titan.

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